Iran accuses U.S. of supporting Islamic State

In the latest accusation leveled at the United States by high ranking Iranian officials, the Iranian Chief of Staff on Saturday claimed that his country holds evidence showing that the Islamic State group has been the beneficiary of American material support.

According to Iranian state media, while attending Iran’s annual Army Day parade, where Tehran unveiled its Bavar 373 air defense missile system, the Iranian equivalent of the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi insisted that Iranian Intelligence has “received reports the the US planes visit ISIL [Islamic State controlled] airports.”

“If the US is honest in its statements that it has not created the ISIL, it can fight against it easily and we hope that the US and British governments will fight against the ISIL even for the sake of their own nations.”

Beginning in the summer months of 2014, the US has led a multinational bombing campaign against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq and is responsible for 60% of some 16,000 airstrikes carried out by coalition forces .

Meant to aid local forces such Kurdish Peshmerga and local militia groups in capturing territory from the jihadist group in ‘close support’ operations, the American strategy has refrained from deploying ground troops to directly confront and dislodge ISIS fighters.